WISE - NIRS Nuclear Monitor 637

What happened 25 years ago? We go back to news from our 1980 WISE Bulletin, comparing anti-nuclear news then and now.

Then
In WISE Bulletin vol. 2 nr. 4 we wrote about Belau (Palau): "The people of the Micronesian island of Palau face a cut-off in American aid, after a new legislature re-affirmed the peoples' original anti-nuclear stand." WISE Bulletin 4, May/June 1980

Now
The Republic of Belau supposedly gained its "independence" from the United States in 1994 after almost five decades as part of the US administered UN Trust Territory of the Pacific (TTPI). http://www.asiapac.org.fj/cafepacific/resources/profiles/belau.html

Having become the first nuclear-free nation in the world when it adopted a nuclear-free constitution in 1981, the small Pacific island chain of some 16,500 people (in 1994) finally succumbed to overwhelming pressure to sign a Compact of Free Association with the United States that saw it renounce its nuclear-free constitution previously ratified by its peoples in twelve separate referendums. http://www.abolition2000.org/press/palau_resolution/

In 1985 the popular and staunchly anti-nuclear president Haruo Remeliik was assassinated and his successor died from gunshot wounds under mysterious circumstances, though it was widely accepted that he committed suicide. The next president negotiated the Compact with the American government but in order for the treaty to come into effect, the constitution would have to be changed.

Between 1983 and 1987, the government of Belau spent US$1.7 million on Compact considerations and further public funds were spent on campaigning for its approval while no funds were made available for campaigns against it. Presidential aides also sanctioned violence against Compacts opponents in broadcast statements. WISE News Communique 323-324, 22 December 1989

During the 1992 presidential elections, a referendum was held and voters agreed to allow the Compact to be approved by simple majority as opposed to the 75% of the vote required under the anti-nuclear provisions of the constitution. WISE News Communique 392, 11 June 1993

Palau was forced to acquiesce to US military requirements in return for limited economic aid to repay foreign debts and for new development. The aid was to last for 15 years while the US would be responsible for defense for 50 years.

After 15 years of popular opposition and seven 'no' votes, the might of the US military and political machine finally won out. For all its bleating about spreading democracy across the globe, the US proved yet again that it has no respect for the democratic rights of other nations and peoples to express their common wishes, in this instance for a nuclear-free island nation, when those wishes are not in the interests of the United States and its seemingly insatiable military and political ambitions. http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/1999/08/00_salvador_micronesia.htm

WISE-Amsterdam/NIRS

ISSN: 1570-4629

Reproduction of this material is encouraged. Please give credit when reprinting.

Editorial team: Tinu Otoki (WISE Amsterdam), Michael Mariotte (NIRS). With contributions from CNIC and WISE Sweden.

The next issue (638) will be mailed out on November 18, 2005.

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